"Preserving our oceans is essential for protecting
biodiversity," former President Bill Clinton said as he announced the
Society's efforts at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Monday.

"The ocean is the world's largest natural resource," Clinton said,
noting that it contributes more than $20 trillion to the global economy.
Yet, "human impact on the ocean is undeniable."

The expanded effort will build on National Geographic's Pristine Seas project, which has financed 10 scientific expeditions
to remote areas of ocean around the world, including in the South
Pacific and off Africa, Russia, and South America.

New efforts will
target the Seychelles—an archipelago in the Indian Ocean—northern
Greenland, and South America's Patagonia region, Clinton said.

As a result of the program's work, government leaders have protected areas in the United States, Chile, Kiribati, and Costa Rica that cover more than 150,000 square miles (about 400,000 square kilometers).

"A few country leaders have already shown tremendous
leadership in ocean conservation by creating the largest marine no-take
areas in history," says Enric Sala, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence who launched Pristine Seas in 2009.

"National Geographic Pristine Seas and our partners are
excited to inspire other leaders to protect what's irreplaceable: the
last wild places in the ocean."

Terry Garcia, National Geographic's chief science and
exploration officer, pointed to overfishing, pollution, and climate
change as major threats facing the ocean.

By broadening the existing Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Monument
from almost 87,000 square miles to more than 490,000 square miles,
Obama has protected more acres of federal land and sea by executive
power than any other president in at least 50 years and makes the area
off-limits to commercial fishing.

The
proclamation will mean added protections for deep-sea coral reefs and
other marine ecosystems that administration officials believe are among
“the most vulnerable” to the negative impacts of climate change.

While the new designation is a scaled-back version of an even more
ambitious plan the administration had floated in June, it marks the 12th
time Obama will have exercised his power under the 1906 Antiquities Act
to protect environmental assets.

The decision to continue to allow
fishing around roughly half the area's islands and atolls aims to limit
any economic impact on the U.S. fishing interests.

Under the new designation, the administration will expand the fully
protected areas from 50 miles offshore from three remote areas — Johnston Atoll, Wake Atoll and Jarvis Island — to 200 miles, the maximum
area within the United States’ exclusive economic zone.

Obama has protected 297 million acres of
federal lands and waters through executive action, surpassing George W.
Bush, who safeguarded 211 million acres.

While
the islands in question are uninhabited, U.S. tuna operators and some
officials in Hawaii and American Samoa have opposed the expansion on the
grounds that it could make it more difficult to catch tuna and other
species at certain times of year.

Fish caught in the area around all
seven atolls and islands account for up to 4 percent of the annual U.S.
tuna catch in the western and central Pacific, according to the Pew
Charitable Trusts.

Matt Rand, who leads the Pew Charitable Trust’s Global Ocean Legacy
project, said that because more than half-a-dozen other nations are
considering creating new protected areas in the Pacific, “This could be
the wave that ultimately propels these marine reserves to become
reality.”

Taken together with the U.S. announcement, these areas could
encompass more than 2.3 million square miles of sea.